Eddy Street Commons

The South Bend fire department and NIPSCO are responding to a gas leak in the 1000 block of N. Burns Avenue in South Bend, approximately 2 blocks south of Eddy Street Commons. No evacuations have been reported so far. Stay with us for updates.

SOUTH BEND -- Bob Esser sat on a bench at noon Saturday along Eddy Street and marveled at what surrounded him less than a half-mile from Notre Dame Stadium. The 1974 Notre Dame graduate, who was attending his first Fighting Irish football game in 32 years, looked at the four-story brick buildings in Eddy Street Commons and said, "It's incredible. It really is. " Many Notre Dame fans had similar reactions as they walked through the new "college town" development between Angela and Napoleon boulevards, south of the university.

SOUTH BEND - Dinners and shoppers expecting to visit Eddy Street Commons tonight might want to put their visit on hold. As of 5:45 p.m., electricity is out at the retail and residential complex located just south of Notre Dame's campus. The cause of the outage is unknown, but restaurants and businesses in the area are not operating, even though traffic lights remain working in the area. At Brother's Bar and Grill and O'Rourke's Public House, patrons and staff could be seen sitting on the outdoor patio furniture, waiting for power to resume.

O’ Rourke’s Public House, the Irish-themed establishment once known as Kildare’s in Eddy Street Commons, is still about the green. But with its investors, who are University of Notre Dame alumni, withdrawing management from the eight-store Kildare’s chain for a greater local focus, it’s also more about the blue and gold. The new name, which was interactively selected, even was announced on the day of the Blue-Gold Game, the annual spring scrimmage. “They wanted to go their own route,” explained general manager Rick Stoner, adding that the new name means “to govern by serving.” “It also means victory, which we thought was good being so close to Notre Dame.” The Irish influence is clear at the venue that can hold 300 indoors, about 150 on the patio.

You might not decide to visit Eddy Street Commons solely based on the Slurpees and Big Gulps that will be available there this fall. But some Notre Dame students, visitors and local residents might consider the 24-hour convenience store to be pretty handy. That's what the developer of the mixed use corridor is hoping. A new 7-Eleven is scheduled to open around the start of football season, adding to the mix of retailers, restaurants and residential units that comprise phase one of the mixed-use development south of Notre Dame.

Anytime Fitness is scheduled to close its Eddy Street Commons location at the end of the month. Anytime Fitness was among the first tenants to join Eddy Street in fall 2009, and now it is among the first to leave the mixed-use development located south of the University of Notre Dame campus. Michelle Craig said she cannot comment on the closing of this location because of a confidentiality agreement with Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group.

Starting construction on a second phase of retail and restaurant space at Eddy Street Commons right now would be downright foolish. But could talks begin soon about planning such an expansion? You bet. In shopping center terms, the first-floor retail portion of the mixed-used project located south of Notre Dame is considered full. Only three small stores remain idle, and developer Kite Realty Group admits it is being extremely selective in filling them. Because the occupancy rate at Eddy Street Commons has risen to 95 percent, up from 75 percent last summer, Kite is looking forward to scheduling a meeting with Notre Dame officials to start discussing a second phase of retail that would extend the current retail-commercial corridor at Eddy and Angela Boulevard.

Tricia Wainscott believes social work is not much different from retailing. As the local business owner tended to all sorts of last-minute details before the Saturday opening of Kilwin's Chocolate and Ice Cream shop in South Bend, she reflected on the time she spent assisting families at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center before her early 2009 layoff. She compared her work at the hospital to the years she worked at an area candy store while completing her education. "They were both about helping people, and trying to make people happy," she says before mentioning how she even went out of her way to make special candy deliveries.

EVANSVILLE -- Old National Bancorp announced Wednesday the appointment of Becky Skillman to its board of directors. Becky Skillman serves as president/CEO of Radius Indiana, an economic development company for south-central Indiana. Prior to joining Radius, Skillman served as Indiana's lieutenant governor for eight years. Old National moved into St. Joseph County with the 2007 acquisition of St. Joseph Capital Corp. in Mishawaka. It then built a branch in Granger and at Eddy Street Commons in South Bend before announcing earlier this year that it was taking over 24 Bank of America offices throughout the Michiana region.

Four years ago, when many of this weekend's graduates were just beginning to think about a move to South Bend, the nation was in the throes of the Great Recession. Unemployment was sky high, the stock market was down and credit was hard to come by. Development in most parts of the country came to a standstill. But the project known as Eddy Street Commons to the south of the University of Notre Dame was already under way. The only question was whether there would be enough tenants to fill all of the retail, office and living space that had been built.

W ith this weather, I am really looking forward to spring! I read last year that the city approved downtown riverfront liquor licenses for establishments. How can a business get one and how many people have taken advantage of the new program? T.L.J. Thanks for your great question. Last year, the Common Council took advantage of state legislation to develop a Downtown South Bend Municipal Riverfront Development District, which makes three-way liquor licenses available to dining, entertainment and cultural establishments for $1,000 in certain areas on the west and east sides of the St. Joseph River.

Transpo's $400,000 study of the feasability of a upscale transit line between Eddy Street Commons and Ignition Park is just the kind of spending taxpayers have been begging to stop. The South Bend Public Transportation Co., at the urging of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, recently hired SRF Consulting of Minneapolis to look into the proposal for instituting a high-quality, high-frequency people-mover for the route and how it might be paid for. Eighty percent of the study's cost is being covered by a federal grant, with the remaining 20 from state and local sources.

Linda Zimmerman stopped by the new 7-Eleven Thursday morning for a doughnut and coffee before heading to work down the block at Old National Bank. She and her co-workers had been hoping a convenience-type store would join the retail mix at Eddy Street Commons near the University of Notre Dame. "You have all the apartments and the businesses and there's nothing like this here," Zimmerman said as she looked up and down the corridor near Notre Dame.

SOUTH BEND -- Soulsation Entertainment presents the "Black Friday Love & Laugh Concert" at 8 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Morris Performing Arts Center, 211 N. Michigan St. Performers include the socially minded R&B and soul singer-songwriter Lyfe Jennings as the headliner with Avery Sunshine, Carl Thomas, Eddie Robinson and Tabu. BET comic Pierre will serve as emcee. Tickets are $103-$23 and go on sale at 10 a.m. today at the Morris, the Hammes Bookstore & Café at Eddy Street Commons, South Bend and O'Brien Recreation Center, all in South Bend; and Super Sounds Catalog Center located within TG Music in Goshen; by phone at 574-235-9190 or 800-537-6415; and online at morriscenter.org.

Known for his observational humor about everyday life, Regan has released two albums, 1997's “Brian Regan Live” and 2011's “All By Myself,” starred in 2007's “Brian Regan Standing Up” and 2008's “The Epitome of Hyperbole” specials on Comedy Central, and released the 2004 DVD “I Walked on the Moon.” Tickets are $38.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at the Morris, the Hammes Bookstore in Eddy Street Commons and O'Brien Recreation Center,...

Imagine, for a moment, what South Bend would have been like without the University of Notre Dame. That may be an impossible task. One might just as well think of San Francisco without the bay, or Indianapolis without race cars. For a very long time, Notre Dame, its people, its values and its traditions have simply been part of what makes South Bend what it is. And yet, something is different now. Yes, the university was always a part of the identity of this region, but to non-Domers it sometimes felt distant, aloof -- a good neighbor, perhaps, but one, as Robert Frost might have said, with good fences.

This column was originally published Aug., 19, 2012. The annual migration of college students returning to our area is a welcome sight. Increased traffic and longer lines at area restaurants and retailers is a sure sign of increased energy and excitement throughout the area. It's a welcome change after the lazy days of summer. And the same can be said for businesses throughout the area. For most of the past week, they've been enjoying the upsurge in business that follows when the students and their families return.